How to open excel files in multiple windows

One of my biggest pet peeves in Microsoft Office is that Microsoft Excel doesn't allow you to open spreadsheets in multiple windows, so you have to revert to switching back and forth between windows if you are trying to compare two documents.  What a PITA!!  Thankfully, I found this fix on the 'net--just a few minor registry tweaks:

Start - Run - regedit:


Navigate to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Excel.Sheet.8/shell/Open/command:
Changes:
Double Click on (Default) and add "%1" to the end of the string - "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"
Right Click on "command" – choose "rename" and add something to the name  - for example 2 (command2).

Navigate to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Excel.Sheet.8/shell/Open/ddeexec:
Changes:
Right Click on the folder ddeexec and choose "rename" and add something to the name  - for example 2 (ddeexec2)

Navigate to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Excel.Sheet.12/shell/Open/command:
Changes:
Double Click on (Default) and add "%1" to the end of the string - "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"
Right Click on "command"– choose "rename" and add something to the name  - for example 2 (command2).

 No restart required for the changes to take effect.  Enjoy!!

Skype Group Video Is Unreliable

As the Technology Manager for Parker Executive Search, a retained executive search firm, I am constantly looking for ways to improve our efficiency and functionality. We have been using Skype increasingly, as it saves a bundle on travel costs and you can video chat with multiple people all over the country (and the world) in a single day.

We signed up for Skype Premium, the business version, in order to use group video chat. We envisioned connecting people from multiple locations--either a board, or a search committee--on a single call where we could orchestrate a meeting. The potential opportunity was great and we were very excited.

Enter reality. Skype one-on-one has been pretty well tested and established and we had few problems. Group Video, on the other hand, is the buggiest piece of software I have used in some time. Granted, introducing multiple live streams presents obvious problems and more room for error, but I have had only one call thus far that worked flawlessly with 3 or more connections. I can't tell you how many times I have seen the message "Group video is unavailable at the moment." I just wish Skype would make sure a product is solid and flawless before putting it out on the market.

All in all, I would be very wary of signing up for Skype Premium with the intent of group video for business. It reflects poorly when the video is constantly being dropped. I think we will have to ditch Skype for a better solution or wait until the bugs are improved.

Zingo! The Addictive Word Bingo Game

After having the server wiped out that housed my favorite game of all time, Zingo!, I have finally finished recreating the game, now using jQuery instead of Java. Overall, the game playing experience is pretty similar to the game before. The only difference is that there are 3 rounds and points are doubled and tripled, respectively.

I played the game myself for a while to test, and I have to admit, I had trouble putting up decent scores on the Medium & Hard difficulties. You have 5 guesses to guess each word, and there is a dictionary of almost 9,000 words. I'm glad to have the game back up and running, so check it out at http://apps.facebook.com/zingogame/.

Facebook surpasses Zynga's Texas Hold'em as Most Popular Facebook Page

According to the Facebook page ranking site SocialPages.me, Facebook has recently surpassed Zynga's Texas Hold'em Poker as the page with the most fans on the popular social network. Facebook currently has upwards of 45 million "likes", while Zynga's Texas Hold'em page has around 44 million. Other popular pages on Facebook include that of rapper Eminem, video streaming service YouTube, and performer Lady Gaga.

SocialPages.me is a new social web site whose mission is to rank all the pages on Facebook. You can only view the site results by logging in through Facebook Connect, but after you login it is pretty cool. The site imports the pages you like and shows you how many people like them and how popular they are compared to the rest of Facebook and the pages' categories.

Funny Phishing Email

I have seen some phishing emails in my time, but this one made me laugh :) Come on, don't you guys have a little creativity?

Mailbox Shutdown Notification
Webmaster [Webmaster@uwsuper.edu]
Wednesday, June 01, 2011 8:43 PM

You are expected to verify your email account to avoid mailbox shutdown :

Login Username:
Login password: **************

To avoid shutting down of your mailbox which could lead to loss of your important files on our server,you must send these details on receipt of
this message.

Thank you very much.

Webmaster

Why I Didn't Buy the LinkedIn IPO

When I heard the expected share price of $LNKD rose from $30-35 to $40-$45 the other day, I began to grow a little skeptical of the upside potential of getting in early. Obviously, LinkedIn is a company with a great foundation and room for growth, but given the fact their market is ultra-competitive and they have yet-unestablished revenue streams, I found it harder to justify the price. Then again, it is a great company with great future potential.

Fast forward to today, the stock opens at $83/share. Wow. I didn't expect such a huge surge, even given LinkedIn's brand value and future potential. I guess $LNKD is the "hot" tech stock to get, and people have to put their money somewhere. But do the numbers justify this surge in price?

Currently, the stock is trading around ~$105!!! WTF?!? This is gross speculation at its finest, people. I am now holding for a dip.

The Big Money of Search Engine Fraud

There has been a reported rise in the amount of click fraud of Australian advertisers, at an estimated 10 percent of total clicks. That equates to about $100 million per year. Google settled a class action lawsuit back in 2006 to the tune of $90 million to advertisers who were victims of click fraud through their service.

Click fraud is well-known among search engine industry experts, yet it doesn’t get too much attention in the press. Strange, given the potentially huge numbers that are being thrown around. This study, by Click Forensics, Inc., in 2008 found that 16.6% of all pay-per-clicks in the Q4 2007 on the internet were fraudulent. Paid search advertising dollars spent in 2011 are estimated to be around $29.8 billion.

Google claims that "undetected" click fraud constitutes only 0.02% of all clicks. Even given this estimate, consider the huge sum of money involved in this little-publicized industry. Click fraud could constitute upwards of $4 billion per year of paid advertising dollars if click fraud is actually closer to the 16% range. Keep in mind that Google’s estimate only refers to "undetected" clicks, so the number is definitely higher than 0.02%.

Microsoft actually filed a civil complaint against a couple that had devised a click fraud scheme that depleted competitors' ad budgets in order to promote their own ads to the top of pages for certain keywords, such as "auto insurance quote". This first-ever lawsuit involving click fraud had Microsoft seeking $750,000 in damages. Microsoft estimates he made $250,000 from the practice, and the company says it refunded $1.5m to advertisers for Lam's alleged fake clicks.

Given the explosive growth of the internet, especially in the mobile arena, and with it the expansion and competition of paid online advertising, I would hope that Google, Bing, and Yahoo! are committed to preventing click fraud as much as possible, and compensating their defrauded advertisers when they do detect fraud. The real problem is that while current fraud detection methods are advanced, bot creators and search experts are continuing to create ways to game these advertising systems and extract large sums of money without being detected.